“Mountains of Gold”, or Should You Believe the Employer?

So, you have finally been invited to a job interview. The employer tells you fascinating stories about the enormous prospects and opportunities that you will get being employed in their company, promising mountains of gold, milk and honey. But should you believe such promises of the employer?

Here is my advice. Partly these promises might be truth: depends on the employer (i.e. the company and its management). But it is better not to believe a word, despite how solid, at first sight, the employer may look.

It often happens in the following way. At an interview the shifty employer seeing a good specialist says: start working for us and don’t be afraid that the salary is small… We have very good prospects! They say there will be good money, but later. And they will go on with this “later” years passing by. Sometimes you get tired of working for nothing, and you will leave your job. Then the dishonest employer will employ another specialist instead of you, and again under the promise of the “mountains of gold”.

There might also be other situations. For example, the employer may offer the applicant to perform a free test project promising to employ the jobseeker if this test project is executed well. In fact it often happens in the opposite way: a rogue employer gets the executed project for free but the applicant gets neither job nor money for the work performed.

Sometimes it could be even worse when the employer tries to “outsmart” you bargaining in the best traditions of the eastern trade. Behaving in a cat-and-mouse way. Of course, you may try to play the “who wins” game with the employer. But in such a situation I would rather continue the job search.

So, even if it is a large company and you think that this is the job your dream, you still need to be careful and to ensure yourself against possible risks. Feel free to ask questions on all important issues concerning the proposed job, your future duties and working conditions.

All of the major agreements reached during the job interview must be put on paper. Primarily these refer to the job offer and the contract.

In summary, the following are my recommendations. Do not believe the promises of the employer. Ask questions during the job interviews unless you clarify all important conditions of the employment. Do not hesitate to bargain while negotiating with the employer to get more favourable conditions. Demand these conditions be put on paper. And never lose your vigilance!